Rommel's Rules of Command

'between Rommel and his troops was that mutural understanding which cannot be explained and analysed, but which is the gift of the gods.  The Afrika Korps followed Rommel wherever he led, however hard he drove them... the men knew that

Rommel was the last to spare Rommel.'              -Major General Von Mellenthin, Panzer Battles

'Auchinleck was dreaming of an advance whose forward elements might reach Mechili and Benghazi; Ritchi thought the German armour could still be smashed.  But these were day-dreams in the rear. Rommel in the Front line had calculated exactly how his opposite numbers, facing him

across the wire and the minefields, would behave.'           -Ronald Lewin, Rommel as Military Commander

   From the Rommel Papers pg 225-226                   One of the first lessons I had drawn from my experience of motorized warfare was that speed of manuver in operations and quick reaction in command are decisive.  Troops must be able to carry out operations at top speed and in complete co-ordination.  To be satisfied with norms is fatal.must constantly demand and strive for maximum performance, for the side which makes the greater effort is the faster-and the faster wins the battle.Officers and N.C.O.s must continually train their troops along these lines.my view the duties of a commander are not limited to his work with the staff.He must also concern himself with the duties of command and should pay frequant visits to the fighting line, for the following reasons:(a) Accurate  execution of the plans of the commander and his staff is of the highest importance.  It is a mistake to assume that every unit officer will make all that there is to be made out of his situation; most of them succumb to a certain inertia.  Then is is simply reported that for some reason or another this or that cannot be done-reasons are always easy enough to think up.this kind must be made to feel the authority of the commander and be shaken out of the apathy.  The commmander must be the prime mover of the battle and the troops must always have to reckon with his appearance in personal control.(b) The commander must be at constant pains to keep his troops abreast of all the latest tactical application.  He must see to it and must insist on their practicle application.  He must see to it that his subordinates are trained in accordance with the latest requirements.  The best form of "welfare" for the troops is first class training, for this saves unnecessary casualties.(c) It is also greatly in the commander's own interest to have a personal picture of the front and a clear idea of the problems his subordinates are having to face.  It is the only way in which he can keep his ideas permanently up to date and adapted to changing conditions. If he fights his battles as a

game of chess, he will become rigidly fixed in academic theory and admiration of his own ideas.  Success comes most readily to the commander whose ideas have not been canalised into any one fixed channel, but can develop freely from the conditions around him.(d) The commander must have contact with his men.  He must be capable of feeling and thinking with them.  The soldier must have confidence i him.There is one cardinal principle which must always be remembered: one must never make a show of false emotions to one's men.  The ordinary soldier has a surprisingly good nose for what is true and what is false.